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DecisionNext Sales & Marketing Director Speaks At National Forum

SAN FRANCISCO — DecisionNext’s Sales & Marketing Director, Janette Barnard, recently spoke at the United States Department of Agriculture’s 94th annual Agricultural Outlook Forum in Arlington, Virginia. The forum serves as USDA’s largest annual meeting that highlights key issues and topics in the agriculture industry. Each year, it attracts several thousand participants from across the country and abroad to offer a platform for conversation to every facet of the agricultural community.

Barnard delivered a thought provoking speech that discussed the rapid collision of the meat and technology industry in today’s world.

“The word collision might sound a bit dramatic on the surface, but looking at the depth and scope and rate of change across the meat and poultry industry will prove that work is likely an understatement,” she said as a preface to the knowledge she shared.

The forum audience had the chance to dive deep into why technology is increasing at an accelerated rate, how the supply chain is changing, what problems are being solved by technology, and how meat and poultry companies should consider approaching innovation.

Three key takeaways about technology in the meat and poultry industry that Barnard stressed to those in attendance were:

Technology is entering the meat industry at an accelerated rate due to influences like industry focused venture capital and private equity, changing customer expectations, and the entrance of Amazon into the food and meat space.

The status quo is no longer available - early adopters will realize financial rewards for applying technology to costly business problems and the gap will widen with those who choose not to do the same.

In this fast moving environment, your product is not the commodity you sell. Your product is your business model. The lines between operational innovation and market facing innovation are blurring as the supply chain is morphing.

At the conclusion of her presentation, Barnard challenged the forum to think critically and make a choice about innovation in their own operations.

“It may be tempting for some companies to hold on to the way business has been done for decades, but the competitive landscape is changing fast,” she said. “The challenge for industry leaders is to either engage innovation and be disruptive, or wait and be disrupted. Your choice.”

To learn more about how technology and deep analytics are being applied by meat and poultry industry leaders, visit www.decisionnext.com.

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About DecisionNext

DecisionNext is a cloud-based prescriptive analytics company that helps commodities-driven industries quickly and accurately measure the impact of market conditions on maximize profit and minimize waste. DecisionNext’s proprietary software deploys sophisticated algorithms along with expert insights to analyze large amounts of data that let business leaders see the most profitable path forward across their most complex, high value decisions. DecisionNext’s client portfolio includes some of the world’s largest companies and most well-known brands in agribusiness food, mining, oil and gas, and chemicals. DecisionNext is based in San Francisco, with offices in Dallas, Texas, Perth, Australia and Paris, France. To keep up with the latest, visit decisonnext.com or follow us at @decisionnextHQ.